A breath test can be conducted when police officers suspect someone is under the influence. The test measures their blood alcohol concentration (BAC). For the average driver, there’s a BAC limit of 0.08%. It can sometimes be lower, such as 0.04% for commercial drivers or zero-tolerance laws for underage drivers.
But no matter what specific limit a driver is facing, they may assume that failing the breath test means they’re guaranteed to be convicted. Is this actually true, or can the test be wrong?
Breath tests can be challenged
One key thing to remember is that you can challenge breath tests for many different reasons. They are not necessarily accurate, and you do have defense options—even if you failed the test.
For example, perhaps there’s evidence that the police department neglected the breath test devices. They didn’t carry out routine maintenance on the proper schedule, and they never checked the calibration of the devices. This may mean that there’s no way to tell if it’s accurate, so the results from your test could be called into question.
Additionally, you may believe that the officer made critical mistakes. Maybe they didn’t know what they were doing when they administered the test. Maybe they had never performed a breath test before and were never trained on how to do it. Even if the officer believes they did everything correctly, is that belief enough to convict you? The results of the test could still be wrong.
These are just a few potential defense options, but they help to show why it’s so important to look into all of your legal options when facing serious charges.